Here We Are
by ravenwritingclaw
Summary: A 10-prompt fic about Anita and Roger focusing on the time before (and after) they married. ***Enjoy! Read and review!***
1. Save your flowers

**Author's Note: **This is a 10-prompt series I set out to do for underrated Disney couples. This first set of 10 is Roger and Anita. I'll post a new story with the other couples' 10 prompts. The characters are not mine, but the story is. Enjoy!

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As an apology after the park debacle, Roger Radcliffe was going to buy Anita a bouquet of flowers. He had already offered his home as a place for her to dry off, and as he fixed them each a cup of tea, he considered what flora she would most enjoy.

'I haven't purchased such things in ages. Is it still considered an appropriate gesture?' Goodness, he hadn't realized until now how out of date he was on such matters. Roger looked from his tiny kitchen to the bay window where Anita sat, her eyes flickering to his messy work/sitting room. Even dripping wet, she was dazzling.

The Dalmatians were at her feet, Pongo and Perdita happily engaging in silent conversation as Roger brought the tea over. The humans awkwardly sat beside each other in silence for a moment before the musician glanced at Anita.

"Miss Anita I was wondering what flo-" Before he even finished the word she waved her hand dismissively.

"Mr. Radcliffe, please, don't worry about flowers."

"I insist on getting you something to show my gratitude for your understanding."

She thought it over for a minute then smiled. "Seven o'clock tomorrow night at the café down the street. You can make it up to me over a nice dinner and a walk in the park."

Anita began drinking her tea but Roger just stared at her, unsure of what just transpired. 'I think she just invited me on a date.' That thought didn't bother him at all.


	2. Don't die before I do

Anita and Roger were seeing each other regularly when a horrible thought occurred to her. That pipe of his, all that tobacco he inhaled as he wrote songs or relaxed when they watched films and walked the dogs would likely lead to his death. An early death, if she was reading the papers on all sorts of awful things tobacco smoke did to one's system correctly. She tried to ignore the warning signs, like his sudden cough attacks, but it was growing harder as they saw each other more often.

One night when Roger turned on his tiny television to the history channel, Anita curled up beside him. Usually when he turned on such mundane, colourless things, she pulled out her sketchbook and would sketch a new creation. This time, she intently watched the screen, her legs curled up behind her and her head on Roger's shoulder. He had his pipe out, but the smell didn't bother her like it did her first time there. She smelt it on his sweater vest, his trousers, in his hair, and she had come to love it, even though it would likely kill him.

With that thought in mind, she placed her hand atop his and gave it a tight squeeze. This caught the man's attention and he flicked a glance at the woman.

"Don't die before I do," she whispered simply, continuing to stare at the television. Roger said nothing, but she felt his arm come and wrap around her waist, bringing her closer against him. She buried her head against his chest and breathed in his comforting scent, pushing the thought of death far from her mind.


	3. Wind chimes

Roger didn't realize Anita's affiliation for wind chimes until she moved into his apartment. Her parents thought it was most improper for two unmarried people to share the same living space, but Roger didn't exactly care what they thought. Neither did Anita, which helped matters. They wanted her to be a teacher or work in the business sector which she adamantly refused. Anything she did was seen as a stain on the family name, so why should living with her boyfriend be any different? Besides, it was economically sensible. She spent five out of seven days of the week at the flat. Why not save money for the wedding and a bigger house?

It began in the kitchen. He spotted the thing by the window and nearly took it down right then. To him, it was impractical to have wind chimes inside, especially when he rarely opened the windows unless he was desperate, like in the summer. Over tea, he asked her about them.

"My brother Carl loved wind chimes. He used to teach me how to make them. He learned at camp. We'd spend whole days together on the back porch making ones out of whatever we could find that worked, like broken glass or tea cups. I've always had them around. I suppose it helps sometimes when I think of him."

Roger heard the story of Carl. Another bad apple, or so the parents said. He ran away when he was eighteen, Anita fifteen at the time, and hadn't been heard from since. The rest of the family acted like he was dead, but he was kept alive by Anita and her aspirations. He was the one who encouraged her to peruse her dreams, whatever they were. She already planned to base her first fashion line around him.

The next day, Roger bought a new wind chime and laid it as a gift on her pillow.


	4. A sketch in black and white

Anita had been drawing since she could remember. Whenever there was a little scrap of paper lying around, she'd snatch it up and scribble something on it. Usually nothing fantastic; maybe a lopsided grin or half an eye, but it was fun to take something that she saw in her mind and put it on paper. She felt like she had some control over her life, over her decisions, and she hadn't felt like that in any other scenario.

When she moved in with Roger, her sketch books shared space with Roger's sheet music. Sometimes they'd get mixed together and there would be a picture of Perdita or the clock on the mantle on the back of his latest creation. He usually didn't mind since they were all rough drafts, and if they turned out to be duds, he'd give them to her to store in her portfolio for safe keeping.

Most of her art was sketched on the bay window seat. She'd grab a pillow from the couch, look out the window, and go from there. Currently though, her attention was focused on Roger. As usual, he was pounding on the keys, trying to create something marketable yet also something he could be proud of. Those two things were forever at odds with him, and Anita wished he would give himself more credit. He was a wonderful man with a gift and one day people would see that, she knew they would. Dreams just took time.

She watched as his eyebrow arched and mimicked that on the paper. Pongo sighed from his perch beside her and glanced at the page. He didn't like it when Anita didn't give him a pet, but she was busy right now. Finally, the thing was done and she appraised it. No, it wasn't her best work, but she caught Roger as she liked him best, immersed in his first love. Anita ran her eyes down the curve of his jaw, the hunched back, his callused fingers, and nearly jumped when she felt said appendage on her shoulder. Roger was standing over her, looking at the page as she was. She glanced to see what he thought and blushed at seeing how wide his grin was.

"Darling, you are stupendous," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Pongo barked happily in agreement and the two laughed. She was going to have to frame this.


	5. He was a fan of classical music

Roger was a man of jazz first and foremost, but he could listen to classical sorts too, especially Beethoven if the mood called for it. With Anita, it always did.

Yet when the two decided it was high time they got married, it was hard to decide what music they wanted to play during the ceremony. Although no guests would attend (both wanted a private event), both felt it was important to have a song playing, something they both connected with. A few nights before the big day, Anita and Roger were sprawled out on their shared bed as the record player spat out songs. So far, none piqued their interest.

Anita gave a sigh, the one that meant she was bored or sleepy, and turned to Roger. Well, his feet really, since he was laying the opposite direction she was.

"Roger darling, I don't think this is working. We've gone through all the records and I still don't like one."

He had to agree. The musician sat up and looked around the room. It was a small, cramped space, much like the rest of the flat, and while the walls were covered in many things, the one item that jumped out was a poster of Beethoven from his youth.

"That's it!" he cried out, waking the dogs from their snooze on the floor.

"What is dear?"

"Beethoven!"

"I'm not following."

"We'll play a Beethoven song at the wedding. I'm sure someone there knows one."

Anita's eyes lit up and she kissed Roger eagerly. "You're a genius Roger," she said. With that settled, the two got married in a little church downtown with Beethoven playing in the background. It was better than anything he could ever have hoped for.


	6. Roses are red and violets are blue

Anita would have loved to be home the day the couple moved into their first home together as a married unit, but unfortunately, her job came first. She was scheduled to come in and stay there all day, leaving Roger to sort out their boxes and shuffled their house into something they could be proud of. Usually Anita wouldn't like the idea of a man handling interior design, but she trusted Roger not to fare too poorly. After all, she had taught him well.

It was five seventeen when she walked inside the entrance. So far, so good. The red couch was pressed against the wall leading to the stairwell, the fire was going, and everything seemed to be in its place. Now it was just a matter of finding her husband.

Despite being together for almost a year, she was still learning his habits. In the mornings, he wrote jingles. He took a tea break, perhaps ate something then got back to work. During early evening, before Anita came home, he'd start on original songs but that didn't always fare well and she'd sometimes come home to the sound of fists pounding on keys. She wasn't sure what else he did in the day, mainly because work often consumed her days, but she was sure he was somewhere in the town house. He would have waited till she got home till he stepped out.

Anita hung her jacket up in the closet, slipped off her heels, and padded to the kitchen for some tea. Yet before she got there, she was greeted with a sight on the table.

A bouquet of roses in a vase was there with a little note attached, reading _roses are red_. A stalk of violets lay beside them with another card. _Violets are blue_. On a saucer was a pyramid of sugar cubes that she always liked with her tea. _Sugar is sweet_. In front of all the gifts was a photograph from their wedding only a few days earlier with a note on the bottom. _And I love you_.

Anita let out a dreamy sigh. 'I certainly did marry a romantic,' she chuckled. 'Now where is he?' She skipped the tea and headed upstairs to their bedroom. There lay Roger, passed out from exhaustion with Pongo and Perdita at his socked feet. Instead of waking them, Anita slid onto her half of the bed and curled up beside her husband. This was a much better idea than tea anyway.


	7. Because I wanted you to be

Roger never thought of himself as the type of man to get married and settle down. Perhaps that was why he waited so long to find Anita. Although, he really didn't do anything. Roger still held onto the fact that it was thanks to Pongo they met. He owed that dog, his best friend, a lot.

Now, thirty-three and married with a home and a somewhat decent job as a jingle writer, he wondered if this was it. Was this where life "stopped" and he waited for old age to take him? He doubted that, for he still had a lot of good years left in him. Yet as he sat in his musical study, trombones and violins staring at him as he wracked his brain, he found he missed that old flat. It served him well.

There was a knock on the door and Anita came in with a cup of tea. She just got home an hour ago and they already ate dinner thanks to Nanny. She shut the door behind her quietly and sat beside him on the bench as he fiddled with the keys. It was nonsense, lovely to listen to but with no meaning.

'Dear God what if I'm losing my touch?'

"Why did you marry me?" he asked quietly.

"Because I love you," she replied without missing a beat.

"No but really, why did you marry me? I'm hardly what one would call 'a catch'."

She laughed at that. "Roger, you most certainly are a catch. You're the man I love and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Isn't that enough?"

To that he did not reply. They sat without speaking, the music filling the room, when he suddenly gave a sigh. "Why did you want me to be your husband?"

Anita shook her head and slid closer on the bench. She placed her hand on the keys and played a lighter melody in contrast to the notes Roger was playing. He watched as she followed his lead, his amazement growing. He didn't know she could play like that.

"Because I wanted you to be," she murmured.

And suddenly, that was enough.


	8. I just pretend to be profound

Anita hated hypocrites, despite being one herself. She loathed the CEOs that ran the magazine she worked for, for they always pretended to be more intelligent than they actually were. She knew their secretaries crossed out their spelling mistakes in speeches and wrote on cue cards something "inspiring" to say during meetings. She knew they tossed their socks beside the laundry hamper instead of inside it. She knew they left the toilet seat up, just like all regular men did. They just pretended they were better.

That was what she liked about Roger. It was why she fell in love with him. He didn't feel the need to pretend, not like she did. Anita always wanted to impress people so sometimes she said or did things that she didn't really believe in and felt guilty for later. This happened especially at work. Once at home though, she tried not to put on airs. After all, this was Roger. He met her when she was sopping wet and loved her since that day. He would love her no matter how "regular" she appeared.

She came home from work one day in a furry. An old school mate of hers, Cruella De Ville, stopped by at the office. Normally this wouldn't bother Anita, but she saw the woman chatting with the CEOs and she heard them discuss things like the state of the pound along with other intellectual conversation. She knew for a fact Cruella knew nothing about such things, for the girl was never been interested in current events in all the time Anita had known her. This made the woman terribly angry and she left the office early to clear her head so she wouldn't take her frustrations out of Roger.

When she was inside, she flopped down on the couch, back first, and stared up at the ceiling as she tried to stop feeling so frustrated. It really shouldn't bother her anyway. Cruella was none of her business, not anymore. Then why was she so mad?

'Because she puts on a better act than I do.'

Roger came down minutes later and moved her feet so he could sit beside her. He asked her about work as he set out to massage her feet. Her eyes drifted shut as she told the story of her day, but she wasn't angry this time. Cruella could put on airs all she wanted. Anita still had Roger, and that trumped all other deals.


	9. Romeo and Rosaline

Roger remembered reading Shakespeare's _Romeo and Juliet_ in college, but the funny thing was he never much cared for Juliet. He always felt more concern for Rosaline, Romeo's first, if not brief, love. He knew she originally didn't return Romeo's affection, but she must have felt somewhat sad when she heard of Romeo's death, right?

Maybe he was just being silly, but as he read the play over while in bed, he thought of his own Rosaline. True, Anita was the first woman he had ever seriously dated, he had been in love once, a long time ago now he supposed.

She was from his neighborhood; tall, willowy, and everything Roger could ask for. He never heard her speak, for he usually only spotted her walking to and from school or on the grounds themselves, but at sixteen, she was the most beautiful, angelic woman he'd ever met.

Of course, she didn't know he was alive. Maybe it was better that way. He didn't have to deal with her verbal rejection. He just had to watch her walk arm and arm with the school's leading athlete every day. They were "going steady", and while Roger would have loved to have her fawn over him, he knew he couldn't compete with an athlete, at least not yet.

His infatuation with Rosaline died upon his graduation and until Anita, women were not his concern. With her now in his world though, and if he were playing the part of Romeo correctly, Anita he guessed was Juliet. With that thought, Roger heard the shower turn off and looked up from his book to see Anita walking around in their room in one of Roger's button-up shirts and a pair of pyjama bottoms. Her hair spiked up on end, water droplets dripped down the sides of her face, and watched as she searched for her brush.

True, Roger had never been a fan of Juliet, but in this case, Romeo was certainly head over heels for Juliet.


	10. Pinky Promise

"Roger, are you awake?"

"Hmm?"

"Roger, promise me something."

"What?"

"Promise me that our days will always be like this; that I won't have to wake up without you beside me. Promise me."

"I think that's a rather large promise to make, don't you dear?"

"I suppose, but I still like the idea behind it, don't you?"

"Well, we did marry for better or for worse."

"In sickness and in health."

"Till death do us part."

"Promise me?"

"I'll promise you something. I promise to play music loudly at four o'clock in the afternoon just as you're coming home from work. I promise to never forget your favourite tea when I do the shopping. I promise that, when we fight, I'll always apologize, even if I think I'm right. I promise when you can no longer walk, I'll carry you wherever I go. And I promise to follow my vows exactly."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise. Now can we please get some rest? I do believe I am exhausted."

"Alright Roger."

"Good night darling."

"Good night."


End file.
